#Power Functions

[math-journal2]

Graphing Polynomials

Completing the square

Helpful when going between quadratic and vertex form (standard form)

[jayne-hecate-writer]

Lego Technic 42160: Audi RS Q e-tron...

is it a pile of poop?

The answer in short terms, is sort of, but not really.

To give a better and more understandable answer, you need to know how I came to play with this model for a weekend and what went wrong. Firstly, this kit has been supplied to me by a friend. I am not able to afford such kits, but every now and again, someone close to me buys a set and I get to play with it. I am not going to tell you who this person is, just that I value their friendship because of who they are, not because of the Lego they buy, even if I get to play with it.

When they handed over the set and said “have fun, see what you think...” Everything was still sealed in the box and all seemed fine. The box was quite pretty, but in a serious, 'make everything black' kind of way. This is the first time I have been able to play with anything from the new Powered Up and Control Plus systems, having been playing with Power Functions for several years.

Out of the box, there is an awful lot of black pieces in this set, with some light stone grey and a little bit of dark stone grey. The only pieces of any brighter colour are a few pins and a couple of cross blocks, none of which you can see after construction. Once the model is fully built, it is a large, complicated, black box. Thankfully the wheel rims are a nice shade of red, giving it something pretty to look at. If you want a moody teenager's perfect model, forget the old spooky girl minifig, this set is very much of the dark side. In fact, I don't think that even the old Sith Infiltrator set from the Star Wars theme was this dark. To add a splash of colour to the model, there is roughly seventy kilotonnes (OK, two large sheets) of stickers. None of which I had the patience to apply. This many stickers is bordering on offensive, it is clear that they only want the parts to be used for this model and this model only, but more on that later.

With all of the numbered bags out of the box, I found four loose tyres, the control plus hub and the envelope that holds the instructions and stickers. Thank the maker that they put the instruction book in an envelope, because the oddly oily tyres are oozing out a slick and slimy substance that stained the envelope. This stuff is persistent and remains even after I had to wash the tyres with detergent. I scrubbed those tyres with a nail brush and some Fairy dish soap and then put the tyres aside to dry. Twenty four hours later and they continue to ooze out this oily substance, that reminds me of the GT85 Teflon spray I used to use as a cycle mechanic. My guess is that this is some kind of moulding release spray, but it is odd that it continues to leach out, leaving oily stains on fingers and anything absorbent.

Building the model is a dreary affair. There are no complicated and fun gear boxes or even the barest hint of an actual cockpit. There are lots of clever angles and some well thought out use of curved panels, but the emphasis here is purely on the playability with the remote control (not supplied!), rather than making this a fun build. The new wheel hubs seem a lot stronger than previous versions, but come already assembled, so I have no idea what they look like inside. The drive shafts have been redesigned and are significantly bigger now, meaning that they are stronger too. However, the front axle does have a significant amount of bump steer, which is controlled by a secondary rack and pinion. Without this secondary system, the wheels develop a significant amount of toe out as the suspension compresses. As always, Lego suspension is a crude undamped spring. Any force applied to the spring, is released immediately, meaning that the car does not have actual shock absorption, but this is a petty criticism... unless you know that Lego have in the past made damped springs.

The Control Plus hub and the associated motors are powered by six double A cells and not the 12 that is listed in the instruction book. Surely someone must have proof read the instructions? I am using alkaline batteries, having tried rechargeable batteries in the past. Alkaline cells will give out 1.5 volts, which leads to a pack that runs on nine volts. I used a set of rechargeable cells and discovered that each cell only gave out 1.1 volts, which came to 6.6 volts, meaning that anything I built was down by almost two and a half volts. Fitting the batteries to the hub required the use of a screw driver to remove a cover, that exposes a battery box that slots into the hub in an exact location. It then needs to be screwed back in place. Knowing that previous versions of this unit had a clip in battery box, one can only assume that it developed faults and needs the screws to hold it in place. Again, the power functions battery boxes, with their side covers are easier to use. However, having to have the controller with line of sight to the receivers did make for some complicated builds. The Bluetooth system allows for the hub to buried inside the model and does not get interference from strong sunlight.

Controlling the car requires a smart device, a mobile phone or tablet with Bluetooth will work. I have a Samsung phone that is an older model and rather cheap, but I was able to download the application and it installed rather quickly. There is the potential for fun here, with it giving you information about the car and recording data about its use. It has tip over sensors and can work out the camber of roads. However, from the moment it was switched on, it told me that it is always going up hill, with the back of the car being two degrees lower than the front of the car. I put this down to the bump steer problem over extending the front suspension, making it stiffer than the rear. Using a mobile phone is fine, but it can be limiting. Not every child has access to a mobile smart device modern enough to run software this complex. My version also developed a couple of glitches, always with the steering, that would stop registering my finger movement and making the car crash into whatever I was trying to steer around. I am aware that Lego make a Bluetooth controller to run the trains and I wondered if this is compatible. A quick chat with Lego will tell you that this is not possible. However, an ever quicker on-line search will show you that this is possible, but going more in depth you will discover that you need to be able to hack the hub and rewrite the firmware. Thankfully, some helpful souls out on the wild internet have made this a lot easier and I have been having a lot of fun driving the car with this controller.

If you want a really good controller hack, have a look at this brilliant tutorial. This is entirely the video producer's work and I am in awe of what he has done.

It was at this point that I was forced to ask why Lego do not allow this functionality as standard? When I spoke to Customer Services at Lego I was told that there was no provision made for the controller or MOC building, using the Control Plus system. To my mind this is a poor decision and a bad faith move on behalf of Lego. Once again, we are being controlled by the tech we choose to play with, rather than playing with the tech and customising its abilities to suit our needs. Supplying a simple controller with the set makes sense to me, with perhaps optional increased playability through a smart device. I will be honest, I fully intended to hack the hub as soon as I got my hands on it. However, the car is going to remain on a shelf for a little while because the tyres are still oozing a greasy substance onto their surface.

The tyres are another new design and size. Trying to fit other tyres to the car is all but impossible due to the design of the steering system and rear suspension limiting tyre width. Trying to fit larger tyres is impossible because of the body work of the car scrubs on the tread. The only wheels I managed to make fit are the medium road wheels as fitted to vehicles such as the wonderful Mercedes AROCs truck. However, they do stick out rather a lot. I am thinking of possibly using some pulley wheels to space out the hub and allow other wheel types to be fitted, but I am yet to try this.

Overall, I have found this whole model to be rather disappointing and that is because of some unnecessary design decisions made by Lego. Making the hub locked to this model (or the others that use the same hub), with the exact motor configuration, with no access to constructing a model of your own, is ludicrous. Shame on you Lego.

The fault with the tyres is an ongoing issue that I have been discussing with Lego customer services and after nearly a week, I am growing increasingly dissatisfied with their answers. Being told to just wash them off was fair enough, but how many times do I have to wash them before they finally stop oozing oil? When they do stop oozing, are they just going to perish and rot away? I have a pair of small rubber balloon tyres that came on a model from 1999 and these have become rotten and feel like jelly sweets that have been left in a hot car for a year. I can see these tyres developing the same issue in time and I would worry that if stored with any of other Lego tyres, they would damage them.

I am not sure where Lego are going with these licensed sets that seem to be more about collecting exact models, rather than creating new ones. Saying that, I do have the Lego Triumph, Ducati and Kawasaki motorcycles as display pieces and am waiting for them to finally release a GSXR1000! However, I do enjoy creating my own machines. I have in the past built rock crawlers, dumper trucks, fire tenders and fighting robots. Lego Technic has always been versatile, allowing the builder to construct some seriously clever mechanisms. As I write this, I have sat in my build area, a complicated eight wheel drive, eight wheel steered truck, driven by two power functions controllers, with more on the way. Power functions servo motors are becoming rare these days and can cost in excess of forty quid. However, there are many different companies on e-Bay selling Chinese clone parts that can work very well with the power functions controllers. I know this because after my last servo started to develop a wiring fault, I looked elsewhere for replacement parts. The weakest part of power functions has always been the wiring. My worry with the new control plus system, is that damaged wires cannot be repaired quite as easily. With power functions, I am able to just cut of the wire and solder on a replacement. With access to cheap Chinese clone parts, I should be able to continue to run my power functions parts for a long time, because I have no plans to upgrade to control plus as of now.

I would like to thank my dear friend who has made this and another high end set available to me to play with, this week. They know who they are and they know that they are more treasured than any rare power functions servo I could find!

[nevermeyers]

I know satoru had flashbacks all the time

[inkskinned]

even 2 years ago people still said autism with a whisper. it was also how people sometimes whisper lesbian, like they're afraid of uttering a slur. autistic was either an insult or it was something terrible, a horrible burden only select people endure. "select people" were usually 9 year old boys and skinny white men.

they are not hispanic young adults with a dog and a life and friends. i can make (sustained, calculated, painful) eye contact. with certain people, i don't even have to count how many seconds i am holding their vision - i can just look at them. i can wear clothes that bother me, i will just have a worse day than usual. i might cry about any changes to my schedule - but change is scary! this is normal!

when i was 16 it was OCD. i mean that was the thing everyone said. i totally have ocd. they would arrange 6 colors of gel pen in rainbow order (no worry for indigo feeling left out) and they'd be "so ocd" about it.

if you struggle with intrusive thoughts, be careful at this next paragraph, but. at 16 i developed a compulsion that involved self-harm. my ocd was convinced i was simply forgetting that i'd hurt someone terribly - a thought that persisted for no clear or delineated reason.

at some point i will probably write about how the idea of "morally pure thoughts" was hell for me and others with ocd, but this was the odd dichotomy for many of us: they liked our "aesthetic", but were genuinely repulsed by our lived experience. "intrusive thoughts" now means "cutting your hair in the sink" instead of talking yourself down from believing horrible things. "so ocd" is a label without any true understanding.

it's something i've talked about before - in multiplicity - but i firmly believe in the veracity and necessity of self-diagnosis. i think it saves lives and it saves tragedies from occurring. as someone raised in a house that wasn't safe, self-diagnosis was, for many years, the only viable option. 15 and honestly googling: am i depressed or are there demons affecting my behavior.

but it is not genuine self-diagnosis anymore, most of the time. it is a strange, blanched version of that whispered word autism. now certain traits are constantly seen as "autistic" - any passing intense interest. any flubbed social interaction. people say it while laughing - a touch of the 'tism.

and i like the acceptance! i do. i like that people are talking about it. i like that if i self-identify, more people speak up and say me too, bitch. but there is something-else quietly happening, the way it happened to OCD. the quirky, "fun" parts have been washed and sanitized and removed of all suffering. now it is just something that makes you "a little bit silly."

it took me 27 years on this planet before i learned to make friends. something about me just seems incredibly odd, i guess, some kind of radiation monitoring. someone once (in a way that was almost friendly) told me i am doing the right things, but in a way that's off-putting. i have scoured myself raw attempting to be charming.

someone on tiktok does a deep dive into their particular passion. the top comment says "what kind of autism is this lol". like we are a breed of animal. like it has no influence on our experience. like our life is a fresh breeze, an open meadow.

more often for me, life was a drowning.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*peering down at my own genetic sequence* uh-huh uh-huh bold choice bold fucking choices my friend

[aroaceleovaldez]

the dynamic of demigods thinking which other demigod is the most powerful is always amusing to me because. like, we know the big 3 kids are all the most powerful. That's just a fact of their universe. And then we know nearly every character views Percy as the strongest demigod, and most people are very rightfully intimidated by him.

and you look at the powers of the Big 3 kids and there's Percy, but then you realize Nico is just kind of objectively more powerful than him but simply chooses to hang out in Percy's shadow like he's Percy's scary dog privileges. Like, the two of them are pretty equally capable of causing multiple different apocalypses. Nico just also has like four different instakill powers and it's not like he doesn't use them. He very much uses them! Not infrequently, even! And they don't seem to take a significant amount of energy from him! And other demigods are pretty intimidated by both of them! But Nico makes a conscious point to keep his cards close to his chest and not let on exactly how dangerous and scary he can be if he wants to. People are already scared enough of him without knowing anything about him and he doesn't like that. Percy doesn't think about that nearly as much, and so usually just goes in guns blazing and that's part of why he's considered a wildcard. And then Nico himself puts Percy on a pedestal, so those who do know more about Nico's abilities then presume Nico knows something they don't about Percy that implies Percy is even stronger than him.

And even on a meta level Nico's narrative role requires him to be functionally more powerful than Percy, because he very often serves the purpose of getting Percy out of situations he can't handle on his own. That's just part of his function as a character! But also narratively he can't overshadow Percy so he just takes a backseat of his own accord and that's very amusing to me.

[navnae]

I foam at the mouth every time I see this clip, the fact that Eddie started stuttering when Steve leaned in is killing me as we speak 😖

[lemonerix]

hetadoodles :P

[imaredshirt]

Give me a Stan who thinks Fiddleford doesn't know how to throw a punch, much less defend himself in a fight with your average goon, so one morning he takes it upon himself to show the nerd a few basic jabs and hooks and maybe an uppercut or two behind the cabin, because let's face it, there's gonna be a time when Stan can't be there to take a hit for the guy or defend his nerd butt. So he's gonna teach him some stuff for his own peace of mind.

Fiddleford just kind of genially goes along with it, following Stan around the back of the cabin and watching with hands on his hips and a smile as Stan gets into position.

"This is one of the most basic punches in the world, so pay attention, 'cause I'm not gonna show you again," Stan says, knees slightly bent and fists up.

Fidds nods. "You've got my full attention, Stanley."

Stan isn't sure if he's imagining the way Fidds is eyeing him up and down, but he automatically flexes his arms a little more than he needs to. Up ahead, Ford is sitting on a tree stump and taking samples of the air or something (Stan had stopped listening to Ford's explanation once his words went from interesting to Big Science Shit that Stanley Does NOT Care About) and he's watching them with this amused grin, rolling his eyes skyward when Stan won't stop flexing and showing his arms off.

Stan ignores him and rolls his shoulders before jabbing his fists forward in a quick one-two. "There - you catch that?"

Fidds has got his arms crossed now and gives Stan a thumbs up. "Sure did!"

"See, just like this," Stan says, and shows him again despite saying earlier that he wouldn't.

He shows him a few more punches, going over each one a couple times before telling the engineer to mirror him, even getting in close to adjust the guy's scrawny arms and balled fists. He's being real professional about it and everything and doesn't understand why Ford keeps grinning and shaking his head at them, which is making him a little incensed but he stamps it down because Fidds is watching him with this nerdy, dopey smile while letting himself be maneuvered around and he's gotta learn to defend himself 'cause Stan can't stand the thought of some jerkwad wiping that smile off the nerd's face.

"See," he says near the end of the lesson, tapping his fist right against Fidds’s chin. "Do it right and your fist'll hit right here."

Fidds tilts his head a fraction at the touch. "Well alright then, seems easy enough."

"Yeah, like I said, if you do it right. Gimme your hand-" he takes Fidds’s wrist and taps the guy's balled fist against his own stubbly jaw. "Right here. You got that?"

Fidds nods. "Sure do!"

"Good." Stan drops Fidds’s wrist and gets into position again. "Then come on - lay one on me."

Fidds pulls back and blinks at him. "Come again?"

"Hit me!" Stan taps his jaw. "Right here!"

The guy suddenly looks nervous and galnces over at Ford for help. "Hit you? Stanley, I don't think-"

This is what Stan means. Fidds isn't always gonna be able to look to him or Ford to save him. He gets this weird, uncomfortable feeling in his chest at the thought of Fidds facing off against some asshat on his own, and that alone is enough to keep him from letting the guys off easy, if only to get rid of the weird feeling. Maybe a bit selfish but he doesn't care.

"Ah, come on, one little punch ain't gonna hurt ya, Fidds."

"I'm not worried about me," Fidds says, and then frowns when Stan barks a laugh.

"You think you're gonna hurt ME?"

Fidds is still frowning when Ford calls over in an amused, warning tone, "This is not a good idea, Stanely!"

"Just worry about your air test or whatever and leave us alone," Stan calls back. Ford shrugs and scribbles something in his journal, and when Stan turns back to Fidds, Fidds is finally getting into position.

He looks unsure, watching Stan nervously as Stan stands before him with his arms crossed.

"Hey, not bad form - you ready?"

"Well, I suppose so," Fidds says, accent coming in a little thicker than before. "Stan, if you're sure, I should probably warn ya-"

"Don't tell me nothing, just punch me!"

Fidds presses his lips into a line and throws his fist - and jabs Stan on the chin just hard enough to tilt Stan's head half an inch to the side.

"That's it?" Stan guffaws and shakes his head. "That was barely a tap!"

"I don't wanna hurt ya!" Fidds says, sounding so conflicted that Stan gets this urge to pull him into a headlock and ruffle his hair and drive the worry away.

Instead he riles him up.

"Please," he says. "Fidds, look - one of these days I'm not gonna be there to take a hit for you, and then what're you gonna do? Just let some jerk punch ya around?"

Fidds looks slightly perplexed. "Where is this all comin from? No, Stanley, I am NOT gonna just let some jerk punch me around."

"Good! So you gotta learn to defend yourself!" Fidds still looks unsure, so Stan tries a different angle. "Okay, how 'bout this - what if some jerks are beating up on me and Ford, huh? You're just gonna let em?"

Fidds looks up. "What? No, I am not!"

"You're gonna defend us?"

"Dangnabbit, Stan - of course I am!"

"Not gonna let us get our teeth kicked out?"

"What!? No!"

"Then show me!" Stan slaps a hand against his own chin. "Right here, come on! I'm some jerk who just threw your friend Stan to the ground and I'm about to kick him in the gut, what're ya gonna-"

The blow lands hard. Stan's head jerks to the side and he's thrown off balance, and he sees actual stars before his vision clears again and he realizes he's crumpled on the ground. His head swims as hands pull him around onto his back.

"Mother o pearl!" Fidds gasps. He's got his hands on Stan's face, careful touch at complete odds with the punch he'd just landed in the same place. "Are you alright? I am so sorry! I hit ya and you weren't even ready and - you just got me so riled up and I tried to tell ya and I shoulda said earlier instead o just lettin ya show me all those moves, but I just wanted to, well - goddangit, Ford, this ain't funny."

Ford's laughing as he comes up behind them, looking down at where Stan is staring kinda dazedly up at Fidds, who's kneeling by his side in the cool grass. "We did try to tell him, Fiddleford."

"Tell me what?" Stan demands. His jaw is already aching but Fidds’s hands feel kinda good so he doesn't tell him to move.

"Fiddleford was a boxing champion back back in his hometown," Ford says.

Stan blinks. "Bwuh-?"

"Not much of a champion," Fidds says with a wince, but he's blushing a bit as he goes on, "It was never anythin official, but - well, I did win more than a few matches at some backyard parties, see, and - well, people usually don't think I got any hittin power or can defend myself, but my Ma's been all too happy to teach me since I was little, and-"

The guy's rambling, and Stan quits being able to understand what he's saying half way through cause the accent is coming in thick and Ford’s chuckling and standing there looking proud of his best friend and Stan’s a little worried that he's still jarred from the hit, cause when he looks at Fidds kneeling there, one hand one Stan's chest and the other bashfully rubbing his neck while he rambles on - he's still seeing stars.

Later, while Stan sits in the living room with an bag of ice in his jaw and Fiddleford sitting next to him, still rambling about all the times he'd knocked a few guys into the mud in some backcountry hoedown get-together or whatever, Stan can lean back and relax and grin, knowing Fidds is gonna be just fine.

He can't wait to teach him wrestling.

[hermitmoss]

Vetinari's Patricianate pulled it off, by the way. After the revolution, slowly, over many years of civil service.

The Times (truth), the remade Watch (justice),

“I'm sure we can pull together, sir.” Lord Vetinari raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I do hope not, I really do hope not. Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions.” He smiled.

+ the directions things are going with golems, goblins and orcs (freedom), the Seamstress' Guild (reasonably priced love), and a hard-boiled egg.

[david-talks-sw]

Dooku didn't leave because of the Jedi.

At least, if you're going by George Lucas' word.

In deleted scenes of Attack of the Clones, when we learn about Dooku's departure and his values, there's no mention of the Jedi or "the Jedi Order as an institution".

And every time Lucas refers to Dooku's disenchantment and reason for falling, he doesn't mention the Jedi.

"When you realize that Dooku is Darth Tyranus, it explains what Darth Sidious did after Darth Maul was killed: he seduced a Jedi who had become disenchanted with the Republic. He preyed on that disenchantment and converted him to the dark side, which is also a setup for what happens with Anakin." - Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones, 2002

"[Dooku is] one of the few Jedi who became disenchanted with the Republic and left the order and he is leading a separatist movement." - Vanity Fair, 2002

"I wanted a more sophisticated kind of villain. Dooku’s disenchantment with the corruption in the Empire is actually valid. It’s all valid.  So, Chris plays it as, 'Is he really a villain or is he just someone who is disenchanted and trying to make things right?'" - Starlog Magazine #300, 2002

He probably meant the Republic/Senate in that last one, but you get the point. And you're seeing the pattern, right?

Dooku's problem isn't the Jedi, it's the Republic.

He's become disenchanted with a system that - according to Lucas' prologue in the 2004 book Shatterpoint - worked for 1,000 years...

"For a thousand years, the Old Republic prospered and grew under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the venerable Jedi Knights."

... but has been rendered ineffective because of 1) senators becoming corrupt and 2) corporations gaining political power.

"But as often happens when wealth and power grow beyond all reasonable proportion, an evil fueled by greed arose. The massive organs of commerce mushroomed in power, the Senate became corrupt, and an ambitious named Palpatine was voted Supreme Chancellor."

That's the message Dooku runs on, when he rallies the systems to form the Separatist Alliance.

"By promising an alternative to the corruption and greed that was rotting the Republic from within, Dooku was able to persuade thousands of star systems to secede from the Republic."

The Jedi aren't really a factor in his decision to leave.

Why would they be? Their political status isn't very high, they're virtually powerless, as illustrated by the film's narrative and stated repeatedly by Lucas.

On the contrary, as we already established in this post, Lucas full-on confirmed that Dooku actually carries the sympathies of most of the Jedi. Again:

Most Jedi agree with Dooku, ideologically.

As far as the Jedi are concerned, the politicians are effing up the Republic, and it sucks because the Jedi see this but aren't allowed to interfere in the political process. They have to resort to looking for loopholes in their mandates to actually get stuff done.

That's what that whole "she's a politician" scene is meant to hint at. In the commentary of Attack of the Clones, Lucas uses a similar turn of phrase as he does with Dooku.

"[This scene gives us] a chance to talk a little bit about politics and the Jedi’s disenchantment with the political process, due to the corruption and the ineffectiveness of the Senate." - Attack of the Clones, Director’s Commentary, 2002

Considering all this, it becomes clear that the intended narrative surrounding Dooku's decision to leave the Order is not:

"The Jedi are dogmatic and asleep at the wheel except for Dooku, who is ahead of the curb and sees the system is flawed, so he left."

It's actually:

"ALL Jedi see the system is flawed, Dooku's the only Jedi who decided to take it a step further and leave the Order so he can try to get into politics himself and change things."

That's why they hesitate to accuse him of murder.

That's why in an earlier draft of the Attack of the Clones script, by the end of the second act, Mace STILL has his doubts that Dooku would sign a treaty with the Trade Federation to attack the Republic.

As far as the Jedi are concerned, Dooku is out there fighting the good fight, making noise because whenever they try to protest it falls on deaf ears... until his betrayal on Geonosis.

After all, let's not get it twisted: the Dooku we're introduced to in the films and The Clone Wars, isn't really just Dooku anymore.

He's Darth Tyranus.

A point Lucas makes sure to highlight in his Shatterpoint prologue:

"Unbeknownst to most of his followers, Dooku was himself a Dark Lord of the Sith, acting in collusion with his master, Darth Sidious, who, over the years, had struck an unholy alliance with the greater forces of commerce and their private droid armies."

It's not about doing the selfless thing for Dooku, anymore. He's knowingly part of the problem.

He's all about ambition, now. His personal goals are things like overthrowing Sidious and becoming the most powerful Jedi.

"[Anakin's] ambition and his dialogue here is the same as Dooku’s. He says “I will become more powerful than every Jedi.” And you’ll hear later on Dooku will say “I have become more powerful than any Jedi.” [...] It is possible for a Jedi to want to become more powerful, and control things." - Attack of the Clones, Director’s Commentary, 2002

"If you put two Sith together, they try to get others to join them to get rid of the other Sith. [When revealing the truth to Obi-Wan], Dooku's ambition is really to get rid of Darth Sidious. He's trying to get Obi-Wan's assistance in that and help in that, so that he and Obi-Wan could overthrow Sidious and take over." - Attack of the Clones, Commentary Track 2, 2002

Y'know? Selfish things.

Dooku - like all other Sith, and like the very corporations and Senators he had sworn to destroy - is consumed by his own greed.

[unpretty]

reading what happened to season two of 'the real adventures of johnny quest' really is like. the nightmare fucking scenario. you make one season of a show where you try to bring back an old pulp show but turn it into something grounded and cool without the racism or sexism but with real cool science, and then season two they just hand it over to some guys who are like "yeah we're going to bring the racism and sexism back, also real science sucks so everything is magic now"

[min-play]

OVER MY DEAD BODY

[muzsmocsing]

Quan Yizhen, watching Xie Lian make out with a ghost: What an effective way to exchange power, did you see how he got super strong sooo fast?? :D

Mu Qing: Oh for-

Pei Ming, uncle extraordinaire: That's right bud. Very efficient! But see, when two people love each other very much-

[stormingfrost]

Kinda obsessed with the historical context of Rise of the Guardians. Pitch wanting the Dark Ages to come back, which historically was the decline of culture and records. The Guardians rose at the same time as the Renaissance with the rise of culture, knowledge, and science. (Tooth in particular mentions that she hasn’t been out in the field for 440 years, give or take, which would put that smack dab in the middle of the Renaissance) 

The way Pitch doesn’t want the world to change, the way the Guardians change in tune with the world. The way Jack, who lived in has a human in the 17th or 18th century, who lived in the time after the Renaissance and lived witnessing the world all the way to the modern era, is there to show the Guardians how much they missed and how they can further change and improve for the more modern world. These characters are immortal beings who have so much power over the world, it makes so much sense that when they fall and rise in power it impacts the world that they want to influence, for better or for worse. 

[serpentface]

The goddess Arweny, depicted in Setem-Whe ornamental style. She is usually described as a female elowey protruding from the jaws of a gigantic serpent, or as a small snake with a rat perpetually stuck in its throat.

She is considered to be one of many local spirits of the wilds across the vast forested region known as Nekhuatseth, and is venerated (and cursed) as the god of the hunt-interrupted. She is believed to lend strength and speed to hunted quarry, allowing them to escape predation against insurmountable odds. She is completely impartial, and will lend her mercy to an insect just as easily as she would to a person.

Hunters blame her when what seems to be a certain kill escapes, and pray to her when they find themselves hunted. In many places, it is believed that she will hide all prey if she is not appeased, and as such is left offerings of fruit and wine before any expedition. It is common in rural parts of Nekhuatseth to wear amulets depicting her likeness to ward off attacks from wild beasts.

A folktale from the Sykhilic cult (a Nekh and Setem-Whe religious order devoted to a lunar goddess, scattered in temples at the edges of wilderness areas) intends to teach youths about the dangers and impartiality of the wilds, and illustrates beliefs about Arweny's intervention in the cycle of hunter and hunted.

A young hunter walked alone through the wilds in the heat of the dry season. They were on their rite of passage, and as such were armed only with a knife and could feed only on what game and forage they found on their journey. They were three days in, tired and hungry and missing the comfort of the city more and more with every step.

The hunter stopped at the edge of a clearing to eat a few clumps of dry, tasteless grass. They chewed miserably and dreamed of the great feast that would be held upon their return, when they heard a sudden snap. The youth had only a moment to turn before a great beast seized them in its claws. A tyger had been stalking them, and now pinned them to the earth under one massive paw!

Thinking fast, the young hunter called upon one of the wild gods of these parts. 

“Arweny! Rat-Who-Chokes-The-Snake! Please, lend me your strength!”

And there was a great rustling in the bush, a sliding, slithering sound, and a cackle of frightful laughter. And the hunter felt every muscle in their body seize with a great strength, and they wrenched themself out of the stinking cat’s grasp.

The youth scampered up a tree and sat in its high boughs with their breast heaving. The cat paced below in helpless agitation, for the branches were far too lithe to support its great weight.

The great beast stalked away, and the hunter cried out their thanks to the lord of the triumphant prey and nursed their wounds.

The young hunter walked along deer trails all day, but there was no quarry to be seen, and the scents were weeks old and unpromising. With hunger now gnawing painfully at their gut, they came upon a great river. There were water lillies growing in the shallows with thick, tasty bulbs, and the air was alive with frogsong. The youth crept out into the muddy water, hoping to find something good to eat.

But a slight ripple on the water filled their gut with ice. Their instinct told them to be afraid, and in the fraction of a second, they whispered, “Arweny, lord of the hunt-interrupted, lend me your speed.”

And in that same moment, a colossal riverdrake sprang forth from the murk, faster than the hunter could have run. But their body was seized with a great quickness, and they leapt into the air, high above the drake’s head, and came down upon its jaws, forcing them shut with a snap!

As they sprang away from the beast, they heard a wet slithering sound, and that same cackle of triumph. They silently thanked the lord of the biting quarry, and ran far from the river and its dangers.

But now, the hunter was near starved. The small insects and dessicated grasses they had found along the way did little to abate their hunger. They needed to make a kill or they would surely starve.

And as if by divine will, they came across a river hog hopelessly tangled in a thorny mass of dead vines. It squealed and strained with all its might, but to no avail. The hog collapsed to its side and laid still, chest heaving and showing the terrified whites of its eyes. The hunter sighed in relief and drew their blade.

And suddenly, the hog trembled and burst away, ripping up and dragging all the vines along with it! The hunter was frozen in shock. How was this possible? The hog was as good as dead!

And as if to answer that question, they heard that same slithering, the sound of something heavy dragging its long body over the dry leafbed. And they heard that same cackle, a laugh of triumph, as the prey fled and the hunter starved.